He doesn’t even have to pose. I think my xyphoid process, the tip of my sternum, is very high, compared to most people’s. They thought they’d all get musclebound and slow but here I was, getting big and strong and fast from it. But today there are a lot of big, talented guys who’ve benefitted from weight training. Because all you would really do is anger the hell out of Bill Pearl, who needs to be respected for what he’s done, and our generation, and the Yates and Haneys and Colemans and Cutlers- the new age guys. IA: How about on an athletic level? We have a few younger readers on Iron Age who are very curious about the history of bodybuilding and so I asked them, “If you could interview Mike Katz what would you ask him?” One response I got was, “Who were Mike’s idols growing up?”. In contrast to the seemingly introverted and passive figure he was portrayed as in "Pumping Iron", I found Mike to be a gregarious and competitive-minded man, but no less the gentleman than his screen persona.… And we did respect each other and socialize and even help each other, even if we were competing the following day. Mike Katz personal life. Mr. At his request I am keeping this part of the interview off the record. I think he’s really been successful at spreading the word of bodybuilding throughout the U.S. We also have guys like Bill Pearl who’s still running around promoting the heck out of the sport at nearly 70 years old, like he’s a young man. So the question is, “What can we take from each generation?” From Grimek and Reeves and Pearl to Arnold and myself and Louie and then Haney and then on the the Yates and Coleman eras, I think everybody can learn something from everyone else. But after I started buying the magazines, after I was introduced to the movie part of it, it became John Grimek. MK: I was born 11/14/44. He was 75.His wife, Edda Katz, said the cause was cancer.Professor Katz, who taught history at the University of … I know you’re busy these days as an IFBB judge and a promoter of NPC shows, so you have a breadth of bodybuilding knowledge spanning several generations. Mike Katz does not have the coronavirus. So early on I didn’t have the proportion or symmetry but I was one of the fastest guys in the NFL. But in football they had the acceptance of the public so if you weren’t making much money you could at least hear 30,000 fans screaming for you. It became cynical in many ways. I was inspired by my health education teacher, Mr. Girosa. He was paid $1,000 to sign a release for appearing in the film. So, my natural bodyparts that came easy grew bigger and the parts I didn’t need for football didn’t. He went on to compete at the professional level the following year in the 1976 Mr. Olympia contest, where he again defeated Mike Katz to win first place in the heavyweight (over 200 pound) division. Mike Katz was the longest living myeloma patient I’ve ever met; I believe it has been 25 years since he was first diagnosed. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. A lot of times she’d either bring me to Arnold’s and we’d go to Gold’s from there or he’d come pick me up. A frustrated myeloma patient. It took me a few years to get back in action and feel better after my transplants but exercise helped a lot! So I think we’re going to run the show with the Mantenari’s from Gold’s Gym. Jennifer Ahlstrom We haven't heard any unfortunate news about Michael Katz having the coronavirus (COVID-19). When the World Games came to New Haven thanks toTim Shriver, Arnold’s brother-in-law, Arnold came and I got Kevin Levrone to come and participate and he was wonderful. MK: Well, the thing that’s interesting is that when I listen to older guys like myself I wonder if they aren’t living in the past. It’s like in boxing when you hear the story about the punch drunk guy who can’t function anymore and lost his life savings. IA: (Laughing) That’s a great story! A photograph of Waller still hangs in the WKU football team's locker room. Hang in there and we are here for you! On the Iron Age website we’ve ranted your chest as being among the best of all time– even to this day. Your contribution is much appreciated! Not sure why; other 20+ year survivors I’ve known have all had allogeniec stem cell transplants. He learned a lot from Weider and all of the great California bodybuilders out there. It seems that people have myeloma have healed better than me. As a football player I didn’t need giant calves or 32″ thighs. read more. Anyway, early on I was all chest. You know, when you go to the Saturday matinee and your throwing popcorn and having a good ol’ time with your buddies and probably driving the usher nuts and instead of seeing “The Three Stooges” or” Our Gang”, you all of a sudden see “Hercules” and you’re like, “Oh my God!”. I Should Always Win Because I’m the biggest should have never ever become and IFBB judge much less its most influential for an entire generation. That inspired a lot of us, too. He was big and thick and beautifully symmetrical and he never even have to pose. Topic: Mike Katz....Drug Free in 1980 and 1981 (Read 8994 times) Never1AShow. Mike Katz was the longest living myeloma patient I’ve ever met; I believe it has been 25 years since he was first diagnosed. So it was initially Reeves and Reg Park and then Grimek from the magazines. December 14, 2015, 5:25pm #24. Then at times we’d have to defend ourselves against being called ‘gay’ or ‘narcissistic’ or ‘musclebound’ or any of the other stereotypes that the public labelled us with. Getbig IV Posts: 3284. His attitude was amazing, even through his health challenges and is a model for us all. I did some pretty unprecedented things. IA: If I could, I’d like to go back into your past for a moment. Plus I was the strongest and biggest guy on the field. Bill Pearl is still out there and active and I admire him tremendously. MK: Well, I think by virtue of the fact that bodybuilding is so much more popular today, there are so many more gyms and health clubs. So we had to stick together and there was, as you said, a camaraderie even though we were competing against each other. I saw that star quality in Joe back in ’67 when he and I were good friends, and we still are to this day. He clearly looks down in size but still veey big and muscular. Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Why doesn’t everybody have thighs like his if they’re all doing the same exercises? He was 75 years old when he died. Robert Paris, ‘Defining the Iron Age’, Ironage.us (c. 2003) – Physical Culture Study. But what I’d like to say is that I’m not a dinosaur. . I would ask your doctor about the pain. (Its supporters, on both sides of the political spectrum, included President Richard M. As for the new guys, I know that Kevin Levrone did a wonderful job with the Special Olympics. MK: You can get them at either our World in Branford or the Manteneri Gold’s in New Haven. At 265 I ran a 4.6(sec) 40. If you see something that doesn't look right on this page, please do inform us using the form below: © 2017 Dead or Kicking / All Rights Reserved. Speaking of Arnold; what was it like training with him? Bill of Rights; federally sanctioned banking rules that denied loans to blacks; the exodus of manufacturing jobs from American cities in the postwar years; and machine politics that undercut the power of the urban poor, especially the African-American poor. Founder of Myeloma Crowd, Myeloma Crowd Radio, HealthTree and the CrowdCare Foundation. I have a son and a daughter. You could find something on everybody. Directed by George Butler and Robert Fiore and edited by Geof Bartz and Larry Silk, it is inspired by a book of the same name by Butler and Charles Gaines, and nominally centers on the competition between Arnold Schwarzenegger and one of his primary competitors for the title of Mr. Olympia, Lou Ferrigno. read more. The point is that I’m happy about when I competed and feel very fulfilled about what I’ve done and whatever young guys today can learn from me I want to give them. But Cutler, he’s got the genetics of a Haney or even a Flex Wheeler, but just a monster. So Joe had it and then Arnold comes along and I see the same star quality on him. Nixon. MK: I think it’s a combination of both. It’s like Platz’s thighs. When his last album Musica errante released, he was 99 years old. Celebrities and Notable People Who Have Had Coronavirus. Even as he’s gotten older he’s still working, with his brother Ben, to promote fitness and bodybuilding throughout the world. But that was one of my strongest points. Celebrities and Famous People Who Passed Away Today in History. Mike Katz football career. Mickey Katz was an American comedian and musician who specialized in Jewish humor.